KAL 007 Revisited (Part 4)

By Ethan RiderDecember 6, 2005

Arguing from the Michel Brun school of thought, Ethan Rider provides an interesting account of this tragedy from a perspective that has not yet been discussed in the first three parts of this series. With an unexpectedly shocking conclusion, Rider tells of how this tragedy unfolded in ways which we have never considered.

The cause of this tragic crash remains shrouded in mystery and intrigue. The generally accepted explanation is that during an overnight flight, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KAL 007) drifted off course, violated Soviet airspace, and was shot down by a Soviet interceptor jet. As time passes, investigating this tragedy becomes increasingly more difficult. Until all of the actual facts and data are released to the public, the true cause of this crash will remain in doubt.

The day of the incident, the United States announced that Korean Air Lines Flight 007 inadvertently strayed off course into Soviet airspace and was shot out of the sky by a Soviet interceptor. Since that time, the United States has coerced the Soviet Union (now Russia), responsible for scrambling interceptor jets, and Japan, uninvolved yet in possession of invaluable radar data, to publicly accept the allegation that KAL 007 accidentally flew off course and that one Soviet jet shot it down. Over the years, as the facts surface one by one, it becomes increasingly more apparent that the United States’ explanation is not only erroneous, but intentionally so. Through close examination of radar data, aircraft wreckage and radio transmissions, it can be unequivocally proven that the United States’ explanation is flawed. Unfortunately, because the United States controls the information, the actual sequence of events can only be hypothesized. The public information known to be factual is that Korean Air Lines Flight 007, operating a Boeing 747-230B (HL7442) packed with 269 innocent civilians flew a course different from its flight plan and was intentionally destroyed. The explanation for why this happened is in dispute.

The most probable sequence of events is that in the dark of night on August 31, 1983, the United States attempted an overly aggressive and provocative reconnaissance mission over Sakhalin Island. The U.S. mission was coordinated with a scheduled test of the new SS-25 ballistic missile, the most advanced intercontinental weapon in the Soviet Union. Additionally appealing to U.S. reconnaissance was the fact that Sakhalin Island, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Kamchatka Peninsula housed numerous Soviet airbases and the Soviets’ most advanced submarines that were capable of launching a missile defense against a nuclear assault. Because the area was fiercely protected by the Soviet Union, any U.S. activity conducted in this area would have to be accomplished in an abrupt in-and-out maneuver.

The August 31 mission was the largest one attempted by the United States to that point, and involved numerous attack aircraft such as the EF-111, numerous reconnaissance aircraft such as the RC-135 and E-2 Navy Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), two ferret reconnaissance satellites orbiting the earth, and possibly an aircraft with titanium components such as the SR-71 Blackbird or the F-117A Stealth Fighter. Since the Soviet Union was keenly aware of the sensitivity of the area and because of the secret missile test, Soviet military forces were on guard on August 31. Upon detecting the illegal air space intrusion by the United States, the Soviets cancelled the missile test and launched aggressive countermeasures, shooting down as many as 14 U.S. aircraft, and possibly killing more than 30 American soldiers. Had this information become public, especially at this point in the Cold War, a public outcry demanding retaliation for the killing of American soldiers would have resulted. To conceal the mission’s failure and to prevent the general public from learning of the unacceptable loss of military lives, the United States implemented a diabolical plan that necessitated the intentional destruction of KAL 007. The next day, there would be a great deal of search and rescue activity in the Sakhalin area, which would bring to light the United States’ defeat and the Soviets’ tactical supremacy. However, if the United States could successfully cloud their military failure with the tragedy of a fallen jumbo jet, the search and rescue operations and overwhelming military presence in the area would be misleading. Once the United States presented bogus facts declaring that a commercial jet inadvertently strayed off course on September 1, it would be just a matter of time until Japan and the Soviet Union would be forced to publicly accept them.

It is important to note the reasons that Japan and the Soviet Union would be willing to accept the United States’ falsified theory. During the search and rescue operations, the Soviets recovered a great amount of top-secret U.S. technology from the aircraft that were shot down (In 1990, the Japanese fishing boat Jukyu Maru discovered a triangular piece of titanium in the Sea of Okhotsk, indicating that one of the aircraft that the Soviets recovered in 1983 was one of the most advanced in the world). Additionally, if the Soviet Union chose to cooperate with the United States’ falsified theory, U.S. countermeasures would be cancelled, as the Soviet victory which necessitated retaliation would no longer exist.

The Japanese were able to monitor the entire incident on radar and through radio transmissions—they were otherwise completely uninvolved in the conflict. To refute the United States’ information after it had been so scrupulously presented to the American public would be a direct attack on the U.S. government’s credibility. This incident involved the two superpowers in nuclear technology, and since the conflict was seemingly resolved, there was no need for Japan to instigate any further action by bringing the truth to light.

Although the exact sequence of events cannot be precisely reconstructed, the available factual information can unequivocally negate the United States’ single intruder, single shoot-down theory. There is substantial evidence to disprove the United States’ theory and suggest the actual series of events; the most compelling are the radio transmissions monitored by the Japanese, the location and type of aircraft wreckage recovered, and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and digital flight data recorder (DFDR) apparently from KAL 007.

Efforts to collect debris from the many airplanes that were shot down were concentrated in the waters surrounding the small island of Moneron off the southwest coast of Soviet Sakhalin. Many U.S. ships witnessed Soviet vessels recovering large pieces of wreckage and hauling them onboard. By September 8, more than eighty vessels and submersibles were in the area looking for and recovering debris, representing the United States, the Soviet Union and Japan. The Soviets’ efforts were the most productive, since some of the wreckage landed in their territorial waters. The United States represented that its search and rescue operations were focused KAL 007, omitting details that proved other airplanes were involved. Interestingly, although a large amount of debris was recovered from this area, few human remains were located, which is highly unlikely, since 269 people were aboard KAL 007. By the time the search and rescue operations were cancelled, only small pieces of wreckage were said to have been found, as they were the only ones small enough to falsely associate with KAL 007.

Moneron Island

On the other hand, over 700 pieces of debris from KAL 007 were found nearby in the La Perouse Strait along the northern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Interestingly, none of this debris was discovered until September 10. It took debris from KAL 007 nine days to float near the official search area off Moneron Island because the plane actually crashed much farther south, off the west coast of Honshu, Japan. It is impossible for wreckage found on Hokkaido to have originated near Moneron because of the Tsushima Shio, a powerful, yearlong current that flows north along the west coast of Japan, east into the La Perouse and Tsugaru Straits, and north along the west coast of Sakhalin Island. Private investigations conducted by Michel Brun further suggest that KAL 007 was downed far from Moneron; Brun located debris in north-flowing waters over 400 miles south of the official search area.

Diagram of the north-flowing "Tsushima Shio" current

In an attempt to conform to the United States’ bogus theory, Japan stated that the wreckage found on the northern coast of Hokkaido was not from KAL 007, but from target drones. However, this debris showed markings of paint and had traces of wood attached; the Japanese target drones are never painted, and built with a metal frame. Furthermore, the wreckage was never returned to Korean Air Lines; this would be inappropriate unless the wreckage was not rightfully theirs.

As reported by the Asahi Shimbun, the Japanese fishing boat Chidori Maru no. 58 witnessed an airplane explode and crash into the waters near the island of Moneron on the night in question. The eyewitnesses reported that shortly after hearing an aircraft pass closely overhead they heard a muffled explosion and saw a low orange flame that sustained for two or three seconds. Immediately thereafter, they heard another explosion and witnessed a larger conflagration that continued for five to six seconds. Thorough examination of these accounts suggests that the fishermen actually heard multiple planes and witnessed a missile launch before the crash. According to the official story, what the fishermen witnessed was the destruction of the KAL 007, but since that plane actually crashed 400 miles south of this area, such a deduction is implausible.

In addition to the Korean Air Lines debris found along the northern coast of Hokkaido, Michel Brun located 25 pieces of debris from KAL 007 in seven different locations along the west coast of Honshu, the southernmost being Murakami. The fact that the Tsushima Shio provides a consistent north-flowing current proves that the Korean plane crashed in the water at or south of Murakami. Because the majority of debris originating at Murakami would have been swept north into the Tsugaru Strait or the La Perouse Strait, it is inaccurate to assume that the astounding assortment of wreckage found near Moneron originated in Murakami. Moreover, the eyewitness testimony of the crew of the Chidori Maru proves that at least one plane crashed near Moneron. These facts explicitly contradict the single intruder, single shoot-down theory.

The official explanation states that wreckage miraculously floated hundreds of miles south
of Moneron Island, in north-flowing waters.

Wreckage recovered from the waters near Moneron was said to have come from KAL 007, yet photographic evidence proves this to be impossible. For example, a photograph of debris collected in the first three days of rescue operations shows parts of the wing flap of an EF-111 and part of an ejection seat that was used. Obviously, the titanium wing fragment found in the Sea of Okhotsk (also documented by photographic evidence) couldn’t have come from a commercial airplane. The wreckage collected and its considerable dispersion suggest that at least nine airplanes crashed in the waters near Moneron, at least three on Sakhalin Island, and at least one in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Wreckage from a 747 crash?
A wing flap from an EF-111, and part of an ejection seat that was used,
recovered near Moneron Island.

After passing slightly off-course over the BETHEL beacon on the western edge of the Alaskan Peninsula, KAL 007 began to simulate radio failure so that it could intentionally stray further from its assigned course without having to respond to transmissions from air traffic control (ATC) regarding its position. During the trans-oceanic leg of the flight, between the radar-controlled beacons BETHEL (Alaska) and NIIGATA (Japan), the whereabouts of KAL 007 would be ambiguous. Until it would reach Niigata, Japan, Flight 007 would simulate radio failure by relaying false data as to its position via another Korean Air Lines Flight, KAL 015. Flight 015 was flying roughly 14 minutes behind KAL 007 on the legitimate Pacific route, and would relay the supposed position of KAL 007 to air traffic control. Radio transmissions observed by Tokyo ATC distinctly prove that KAL 007 was intentionally flying off its assigned route, and that KAL 015 was aware of its covert actions.

When Flight 007 passed over the BETHEL beacon in Alaska, it was already 12 nautical miles (NM) north of its assigned route. This deviation would have been blatantly apparent from numerous cockpit instruments that assist the crew in passing within feet of the beacon. The crew of Flight 007 was so experienced (Captain Byung-in Chun was the back-up pilot for the president of the Republic of Korea) that it is virtually impossible for them to have been unaware of their off-course position. Flight 015’s cooperation in forwarding the supposed coordinates of Flight 007 is an indication that the crew of Flight 015 was aware of Flight 007’s intentional deviation from its assigned route.

At 3:52am Tokyo time, 25 minutes after Flight 007 supposedly crashed, Flight 015, having been instructed by Tokyo ATC, sent out five calls, “zero zero seven, zero one five” in an attempt to contact the ‘missing’ airplane. Flight 007 replied once with a simple transmission of “zero one five,” and once with a transmission in Korean that prompted the response from KAL 015: “Roger.” Minutes later, another Korean airplane, Flight 050, entered the Tokyo control zone and received ATC instructions to attempt to contact the ‘missing’ airplane. Upon successfully contacting Flight 007, Flight 050 was interrupted by Flight 015, which instructed it to make further communication on the 123.4MHz channel, which is not monitored by air traffic control. At this point, Flights 015 and 050 were aware of the deviation of Flight 007 and were attempting to conceal it from Tokyo air traffic control. If Tokyo ATC could be kept in the dark long enough, Flight 007 would be able to reach the NIIGATA beacon near its scheduled time, and its previous whereabouts would be insignificant. Regardless, Tokyo ATC has irrefutable evidence that Flight 007 was not only flying, but making calm radio transmissions 44 minutes after the United States said it was shot down. Flight 007 was merely a few miles away from getting back on course and reporting over NIIGATA, its undercover mission undetected, when it was destroyed.

On November 18, 1992 in an effort to encourage Russia’s glasnost (openness) policy, Russian President Boris Yeltsin presented Korean President Roh Tae-wu with the alleged black boxes (containing the CVR and DFDR) from KAL 007. To the Koreans’ surprise, the DFDR box was empty, and the CVR box contained a tape that was completely unintelligible. Transcriptions of the CVR had been previously made public however, which confirmed that the Koreans were being misled. After a meeting of government officials from the United States, Russia, Japan, and South Korea, the ‘original recordings’ were miraculously produced by Russia and given to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) so that it could complete its investigation. Because the ICAO already accepted the popularized shoot-down theory presented by the United States, it overlooked glaring inconsistencies in the CVR and DFDR.

A transcript of the CVR was released to the public, but the actual recording was withheld. On the night of the flight, Tokyo air traffic control heard a strange transmission from KAL 007: “Must have been a bloodbath, real bad.” This transmission was probably spoken by military personnel and overheard on KAL 007’s radio equipment. But since Tokyo ATC received this transmission from KAL 007, it would also have been recorded on the aircraft’s CVR. The 1993 ICAO report translates this phrase as: “Descending to one zero thousand.”

Other discrepancies in the CVR aren’t apparent until it is compared to the DFDR. For example, during the last thirty-three minutes of flight, the CVR recorded six outgoing radio transmissions on two frequencies, HF1 and VHF3, and recorded that frequencies HF2, VHF1 and VHF2 were unused. In the same time span, the DFDR recorded 29 transmissions on five frequencies, HF1, HF2, VHF1, VHF2 and VHF3. Furthermore, the CVR and DFDR are not precisely synchronized, as they should be, and many ‘simultaneous’ events occur more than five seconds apart. Although a five second gap might seem insignificant, there is no reasonable justification for any variation between two simultaneously recorded tapes. The DFDR also indicates that five radio transmitters were simultaneously used, even though a Boeing 747 has only three.

By itself, the DFDR also points to numerous reasons why it could not have been aboard KAL 007. First of all, the tape submitted to the ICAO was over 27 hours long, while the one aboard KAL 007 was known to be 800ft long, or 24 hours and 48 minutes. The DFDR tape given the ICAO had only one, hand-written serial number, which is exceedingly substandard to regular protocol. Additionally, the engine-pressure ratio was recorded for only two engines instead of four, implying that the tape came from a twin-engine aircraft rather than a four-engine Boeing 747. Superficially, the landing and takeoff sequence at Anchorage International Airport appear to be satisfactory, but close examination of the data proves them to be erroneous. In addition to the time being wrong on the takeoff and the speed being too fast during the climb, the DFDR indicates that while taxiing at Anchorage, the jumbo jet traveled through a building. The flaws in the DFDR prove that it was not aboard Flight 007 and imply that it was aboard a twin-engine aircraft that flew out of Alaska from an airport other than Anchorage International.

The DFDR contains a precise timing mechanism that records information relative to the flight, but not the actual time or date. Therefore, a flight designed to simulate KAL 007 could have been carried out any time in the nine years before the ‘original recordings’ were presented. If the flight was closely simulated, the DFDR aboard the twin-engine aircraft could easily be substituted for the DFDR of Flight 007, especially without a serial number or exact time and date references.

The most intriguing inconsistency lies in one of the updated conclusions of the 1993 ICAO report. The original 1983 ICAO report stated that KAL 007 inadvertently drifted off-course and strayed into Soviet airspace because the pilots had flown a constant magnetic heading of 249°. Through analysis of the DFDR, the 1993 ICAO report revised its conclusion to indicate that KAL 007 had followed a constant magnetic heading of 245°. Amazingly, following the 245° heading would not have even put the airplane into Soviet airspace – it would have flown over Hokkaido, Japan. The 1993 ICAO report not only overlooks glaring inconsistencies in CVR and DFDR data, but also concludes that KAL 007 could not have flown into Soviet airspace. Somehow, in light of this staggering amount of new information, the 1993 ICAO report maintained the same assertions of its 1983 report: that KAL 007 inadvertently flew off-course, strayed into Soviet airspace and was shot down over Sakhalin Island.

Shortly after the downing of KAL 007, the United States presented ‘the Kirkpatrick tape,’ an audio recording of the Soviet pilot ostensibly shooting-down KAL 007, and ‘the Kirkpatrick map,’ which plotted the doomed aircraft’s route supposedly with radar data. The section of the audiotape that is most well known is the announcement from a Soviet pilot, “the target is destroyed,” which was said to have been announced at 18:26 Greenwich mean time (GMT). According to Russian data, the recording was actually made at 19:26GMT, 19 minutes before that pilot landed. The United States was able to successfully miscalculate the hour and use the transmission as proof of the shoot-down. Ironically, by the time “the target is destroyed” was spoken, KAL 007 could not have been anywhere near Sakhalin; it supposedly passed over the island an hour before. Incidentally, the Kirkpatrick tape was spectrographically analyzed by the University of Washington and found to have been spliced. There is additional evidence of similar transmissions such as “I let it [a missile] fly,” “I see a dogfight!” and “the situation there is complicated,” as well as numerous accounts by different pilots referring to their own shoot-downs. There are also accounts of “target destroyed” being spoken at 19:25:31, 19:26:01 and 19:26:25.

The Kirkpatrick map shows Flight 007’s apparent off-course route over the Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island. The United States claimed that the radar information used to create the map was gathered from intercepted Russian transmissions. Although that may be true, the radar data doesn’t reflect the course of Flight 007, or only one airplane for that matter. First of all, the map is flawed because it shows a continuous line representing the flight path. Because the Russians lost track of the airplane that they were
tracking over Kamchatka and Sakhalin, the map should show two breaks in the flight path. Also, the Kirkpatrick map doesn’t take into account the speed of the aircraft when it was tracked. The first two segments were recorded at 510kts and 500kts respectively, which is appropriate for a Boeing 747. The third segment however represents an aircraft traveling at 280kts, which is not a realistic speed for a Boeing 747. Other Soviet radar data shows different courses being flown at speeds in excess of 750kts, which is unachievable by a Boeing 747.

The Kirkpatrick Map

The Kirkpatrick tape and map are both egregious to the point of blatancy, yet they are presented as official documentation of this tragedy. Much like the ICAO reports, they ignore factual information so that the universally supported shoot-down theory can be reinforced.

Russian Chief of Staff Ogarkov shows where he believes
KAL 007 and a U.S. RC-135 flew side by side

Because the governments involved have decided that the truth of this matter must remain clandestine, the actual sequence of events can only be hypothesized. The most probable proposition is that after passing 12NM north of the BETHEL beacon, KAL 007 continued off-course to a rendezvous point where it met a large U.S. military reconnaissance plane such as the RC-135. The RC-135 continued the course of the Korean flight so as to simulate an off-course airliner straying into Soviet airspace. From the rendezvous point, KAL 007 flew a course well within international airspace with the intention of meeting its expected arrival time over the NIIGATA beacon in Japan. When the United States launched it’s operation over Soviet airspace, the presence of a passenger plane (actually the RC-135) in the area would be a strong force to persuade the Soviets not to launch a violent counteroffensive. Because the details of this covert mission were considered sensitive by the U.S. government, their secrecy was a top priority. If the mission over Sakhalin failed, the United States would still have a last resort to preserve the mission’s disguise.

Shortly after 6:00am Sakhalin time, the United States realized that defeat at Sakhalin was imminent. Between 6:10am and 6:38am the United States reverted to their last resort and destroyed Korean Air Lines Flight 007. The United States was then able to mask the great military presence and the immense search and rescue operations near Moneron as a hunt for KAL 007. The United States may have actually recovered some wreckage from KAL 007, since the USS Badger and the USS Elliot were stationed in close proximity to the actual crash site. These U.S. frigates were only half a day’s travel from Moneron, yet didn’t arrive there until September 5, suggesting that four solid days of uninhibited recovery operations took place near Murakami.

The tail section of any aircraft is always considered to be the safest, which is why the most crucial component aboard, the black boxes, are stored there. An intriguing piece of evidence in this tragedy is that the tail fin of KAL 007 was virtually destroyed; it was broken into many pieces and bowed outward. Since most accounts of this tragedy state that a heat-seeking missile destroyed the jumbo jet, the logical inference based on the destruction of the tail is that the missile struck the rear of the aircraft. However, heat is not generated from the rear of a 747—there aren’t any engines there. If a heat-seeking missile was launched, it would have struck one of the wings, which house all four of the engines. If a radar guided missile was launched at the Boeing 747, it could have struck the tail, the closest section to it, but it would not have produced the outward warping of the tail segments. The only possible explanation for the outward curvature of the tail fragments is that the explosive forces came from within the aircraft. If the aircraft was destroyed by something onboard, it was most likely a bomb located in the tail. Incidentally, if the suppression of evidence was the primary objective, the tail would be the ideal location for a bomb, since the explosion would exert enormous destructive forces on the black boxes.

There were ample measures for the United States to remotely detonate a bomb aboard KAL 007. At the time of the detonation of the bomb, the United States had a fighter aircraft, FB-650, and two frigates, the USS Badger and the USS Elliot in the area and well within radio range of KAL 007. The United States also had installations at Wakkanai and Misawa that were in range and capable of sending such transmissions. Unfortunately, these facts indicate that the United States not only committed such an intentional act of inhumanity, but that the act itself was pre-meditated.

Because the truth behind this tragedy is not and may never be known, the exact sequence of events remains uncertain, and resources for further investigation are limited. Fletcher Prouty once told John Keppel, principal investigator in the KAL 007 project of the Fund for Constitutional Government, not to expect intelligence deceptions to be simple;“We pay very intelligent people to think them up.”

Hasegawa Yoshio, and Yukimasa Kuwatant. “Present Status of Major Marine Cultivation and Propagation in Hokkaido and Some Problems of the Research Activities.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. 24 Oct. 2003 http://www.lib.noaa.gov/japan/aquaculture/report1/hasegawa.html#Hokkaido.

Hasegawa Yoshio, and Yukimasa Kuwatant. The Tsushima, the Kuroshio, and the Oyashio. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce 24 Oct. 2003 http://www.lib.noaa.gov/japan/aquaculture/report1/1ujnr1.jpg.

Brun's premise of a "secret air war" is a farce and a joke. I was in Japan during the KAL007 incident and in a position to know if there was combat. It would have been impossible to cover up.

You do Bert Schlossberg a grave disservice by including this piece of tripe among his fine efforts.

Username: Efranrider [User Info]Posted 2006-06-19 07:31:55 and read 32768 times.I didn't notice this childish comment until just recently. I'll say for the record that Bert personally proofread and enjoyed this article--we've had a long discourse about it, and it's created a fine relationship between us. Of course, anyone who was "in Japan" at the time must know the whole truth. Please tell us, Lumberton!